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Woof woof!

Dogs. They’ve long been described as our best friends and their talents are seemingly endless. Whether they’re chasing their own tails or pleading for another game of catch, they’ve certainly found the key to our hearts. But some of our furry friends have taken it one step further and even bagged themselves a world record or two along the way.

����ý Bitesize takes a look at the incredible dogs who have made their way into the record books.

Come on and do the conga

In 2022, German dog trainer Wolfgang Lauenburger secured a world record when he put together a 14 dog conga line formation.

The conga line consisted of Bibi, Cathy, Charly, Elvis, Emma, Filou, Fin, Jennifer, Katie, Maya, Simon, Speck, Susy, and Ulf - who certainly don’t have two left feet.

This wasn’t Wolfgang’s first dog-related world record either. He holds a further ten titles, which include facilitating the most rollovers by a dog in one minute and the most skips by a dog on hind legs in 30 seconds.

But a talent for canine handling clearly runs in the family. The previous holder of the record was Wolfgang’s daughter, Alexa, a former Britain’s Got Talent contestant who arranged an eight dog conga line at the age of 12.

She’s a keeper

Now for a dog that you’d definitely want on your football team! Purin the beagle was nine-year-old when she broke the record for the most balls caught by a dog with paws in one minute. Her goalkeeping prowess meant she successfully 'saved' 14 mini footballs.

Described by her owner, Makoto Kumagai, as cool, competitive and easy-going, Purin set the record while in her home country of Japan.

In preparation for the record attempt, Makoto would practice with Purin for 15 minutes each day. This involved Makoto gently throwing each ball to her, while Purin stood on her back legs and held out her paws ready to catch each ‘shot’.

Purin also achieved another footballing feat for the fastest 10m travelled on a ball by a dog, after she balanced on an inflatable exercise ball and crossed the finish line in 11.90 seconds.

Surfs up

From rescue dog to a world-record topping surfer. Abbie Girl, an Australian Kelpie, was adopted by her owner Michael Uy in 2006. Michael began to take Abbie Girl to the beach to rehabilitate her and soon learnt she had a talent for surfing.

On 18 October 2011, Abbie Girl became the record holder for the longest wave surfed by a dog in open water, with a distance of 107.2 m (351.7 ft). The record was set at Ocean Beach Dog Beach, in San Diego, California, USA.

While surfing Abbie Girl is equipped with a GPS tracking device for safety reasons. She can also steer her custom-build surfboard.

She has continued to capture hearts in the surfing community and beyond ever since.

Low carbon paw-prints

This next dog certainly has green thumbs, or should we say green paws? Tubby the Labrador helped recycle an estimated 26,000 plastic bottles over six years, starting in 2010.

His talent was discovered when he was just a puppy, when he would seek out plastic bottles, going as far as to gather them from under bushes and even heading into water to fetch them out.

Once he collected the discarded bottles, he would crush them in his mouth before they were placed in the household recycling box.

His owner, Sandra Gilmore, believes that in his lifetime Tubby had recycled as many as 50,000 bottles during his twice-daily walks. Attaboy!

This article was published in February 2023